Donation from Wiers Farm helps drive Second Harvest Food Bank

By Morning Journal Staff

Thursday, October 24, 2013

LORAIN — Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, 7445 Deer Trail Lane in Lorain, has a new big rig to haul food that will help hungry families.
Wiers Farm Inc. and Dutch Maid Logistics of Willard donated a semi-tractor and refrigerated trailer to the food bank that serves Lorain, Erie, Huron and Crawford counties.
“As a company, we’ve been blessed and we’re happy to help out Second Harvest and the community,” said Sam Burrer, vice president of operations at Dutch Maid Logistics. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
The 2003 International Tractor and 53-foot utility trailer is the first ever for the agency, which has four other box trucks for delivering food to more than 100 hunger-relief centers in the region.
Established in 1896, Wiers Farm has grown to become a global provider of more than 40 fresh produce items of the highest quality, operating farms in Ohio, Michigan and Florida. The Wiers Family also owns Dutch Maid Logistics, which operates a fleet of more than 100 trucks and more than 150 refrigerated trailers.
The companies also are long-time donors to Second Harvest.
“The Wiers Family Farm and Dutch Maid Logistics stepped up in a major way to help us expand our capacity to move food,” said Julie Chase-Morefield, Second Harvest’s executive director. “This donation will have a significant and long-lasting impact across the region.”
The possibility of a donation came up in conversations during the summer and came to fruition when the truck arrived this week, Chase-Morefield said.
“It certainly wasn’t in our budget,” she said. “They said, could you ever use something like that? We said sure.”
It likely will take a few weeks to figure out the best way to integrate the truck into the food bank’s schedule for collecting donations, but it definitely will get out on the road, Chase-Morefield said. The food bank hires local carriers to pick up products donated by the Cleveland food bank and retail stores when loads are too big for Second Harvest’s own trucks, she said.
“It just changes really the way we do business,” Chase-Morefield said. “It’s huge. It changes everything we do.”
The trailer’s refrigeration unit also operates independently of the tractor cab, so it can be used for cold storage in the event of a power outage.
Second Harvest’s drivers have commercial vehicle licenses and two have endorsements to handle the 18-wheeler, Chase-Morefield said. She added she is not one of them.
“I’m lucky I know how to drive a forklift,” she said with a laugh.
Second Harvest secures and distributes nearly 8 million pounds of food and grocery products a year, working with other agencies including food pantries, soup kitchens and emergency shelters. Staff also work with student services such as BackPack Programs and Kids Cafes.
The agency also has begun a capital campaign to raise $3.5 million for a new 40,000-square-foot distribution facility planned on 11 acres off Baumhart Road.
To learn more, visit:
www.secondharvestfoodbank.org.